


We'll Be The Last

by writergirl8



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Sky High AU, Written for the 2016 PJO Big Bang, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 04:00:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8563060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writergirl8/pseuds/writergirl8
Summary: Hey, everyone! Welcome to this really odd collection of vignettes about Percy and Annabeth in a superhero world. Sorry in advance for the lack of superheroness and abundance of character based scenes. This fic was written for the 2016 Percy Jackson Big Bang. There is accompanying art to go with it that is absolutely incredible. I really hope you enjoy it! Shout out to my beta reader, Sophii, blackjacktheboss, for being such a big help. When I was building this world, we talked about it for hours and created a universe that I literally only scratched the surface of when I was actually writing this. Honestly, maybe it would have been better to write an entire historical analysis of this AU instead... but, alas, instead you get a fluffy Percabeth fic. Enjoy! PS: Thank you so much to Mari for all the hard work you put into this big bang! You did an incredible job. Now that it's over hopefully you can take a breather! Everybody appreciates you so much, thank you for all you do for this fandom. You're so loved <3





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! Welcome to this really odd collection of vignettes about Percy and Annabeth in a superhero world. Sorry in advance for the lack of superheroness and abundance of character based scenes. 
> 
> This fic was written for the 2016 Percy Jackson Big Bang. There is accompanying art to go with it that is absolutely incredible. I really hope you enjoy it! Shout out to my beta reader, Sophii, blackjacktheboss, for being such a big help. When I was building this world, we talked about it for hours and created a universe that I literally only scratched the surface of when I was actually writing this. Honestly, maybe it would have been better to write an entire historical analysis of this AU instead... but, alas, instead you get a fluffy Percabeth fic. Enjoy! 
> 
> PS: Thank you so much to Mari for all the hard work you put into this big bang! You did an incredible job. Now that it's over hopefully you can take a breather! Everybody appreciates you so much, thank you for all you do for this fandom. You're so loved <3

_Rules:_

_No using powers to manipulate humans for personal gain._

_A hero must report if he or she is producing a child._

_No hero has permission to kill._

_Every hero must maintain a secret identity_

_Every hero is required to protect the city he or she is assigned to_

_All verdicts for villain punishment will be decided by the Council, not the hero._

_If a hero wishes to inform an outsider of his identity, the outsider must first be vetted by the Council._

_All heroes are required to attend Olympia Prep._

_Every superheroes must undergo mandatory inspection every three years._

_If called before the Council, a superhero has forty-eight hours to present him or herself to the twelve members._

 

* * *

 

 

_**Annabeth** _

The dodgeball whizzes past Annabeth so quickly, she almost misses it. It swings through the air, just barely avoiding her ear, and curves dramatically to the side before a sword slashes through the ball, knocking it to the ground and splitting it in half.

"Thanks," Annabeth says, voice breathless and relieved.

"No problem," replies Percy, tucking his sword away and stamping at the dodgeball, which is still smouldering from having been on fire moments before.

Two years ago, when they started at Olympia Prep, Annabeth probably would have hollered at him for getting in the way of what she was doing. After all, Annabeth Chase is the daughter of Athena— one of the most renowned superheroes to ever go through the academy. But now Percy Jackson is one of her best friends in the world, and she doesn't mind it very much when he helps her out in gym class.

Especially when a gust of wind whips past her, causing Annabeth to whirl around and narrow her eyes at the course of the storm— Jason, one of their best friends, is standing in the middle of the court, concentrating hard on blowing a large group of dodgeballs towards Annabeth and Percy as they stand together on the opposite side. The two of them dive for the protective barriers, Annabeth resisting the urge to become invisible because it's one of the powers that is outlawed during this game, on account of it being impossible to see whether an invisible person got hit or not.

"PIPER!" calls Annabeth over the whipping of the storm. "NOW!"

Piper McClean springs up from the blue barrier that she's standing behind and makes eye contact with Jason all the way across the court. He attempts to look away, but she's too fast, and she catches his eye and stares at him, _hard_. Suddenly, all of the winds have swept the dodgeballs high into the air and are causing them to rocket towards Jason's side of the court. Their classmates disperse quickly, and a triumphant smile makes its way onto Piper's face even as she continues to stare Jason down.

Annabeth thinks that, if she could have any power, it would be Piper's power. Percy's super strength is cool, and his ability to control water is pretty incredible— less so when he's using it to make the rain all gather around her head and get her hair wet while he stays dry— but if Annabeth had to choose between his powers and Piper's, she'd pick Piper's in a flash. There is something incredibly powerful about the ability to make someone change their mind about anything in the _world_.

Then again. Annabeth thinks about this too much— possibly because she has spent far too much time wondering what she would have to do to make a name for herself that is as infamous and eternal as her mother's name. She had been born with her father's powers, not her mother's, and her dad had ultimately turned out to be a _sidekick_.

She's only sixteen, but she already knows that there's no way she's letting herself be a sidekick to Percy or Piper or Jason. She's her own hero. Her powers will not belong to anybody else.

Half of Jason's team is out because of the storm that is blowing the dodgeballs towards them. Annabeth and Percy fist bump each other behind the barrier.

"We should plan a victory dance," suggests Percy loudly, over the noise of the blowing wind.

"Um, not so fast," cuts in Piper, her face getting a little red as she focuses harder, and when Annabeth looks up, there's a squirrel trundling towards Jason.

"No," she whispers, but it's too late. Frank is already morphing into a bear, who roars loudly at Jason. The sudden noise and appearance of a wild animal is _just_ enough to startle him into breaking eye contact with Piper, and immediately, he changes the direction of his storm.

"Crap," says Percy quietly, as Piper shrieks and ducks down to avoid the dodgeballs that Jason is sending directly in her direction. "Alright. I'm going back in."

"Be careful," Annabeth warns him. "Leo's got a whole collection of fireballs in the back."

"Damn technopath," mutters Percy, using his strength to jump over the blue barrier and dive towards a dodgeball, narrowly avoiding being hit by one thrown by Frank, who is now in human form again.

Annabeth closes her eyes for a moment, trying to imagine what her mother would do. They call her the _chessmaster_. Not even Annabeth knows quite what her powers are— she just knows that they're brilliant.

"You're coming up with a plan," Piper says from the next barrier over, her voice curious. "What is it?"

Annabeth's eyes dart over to Leo's fireballs in the back, checking the diameter of the basketball hoops, then letting her gray eyes skate all across the court, counting how many dodgeballs are still in play and not on the sidelines.

"Grab Percy," she says. "We're winning this thing."

* * *

 

In truth, Annabeth hadn't wanted to go to a school dance in the first place. Most of her Friday nights are spent curled up on Percy's couch, watching comedy movies and trying not to be disgusted at whatever disgusting concoction his teenaged boy brain had seemed to think would be a good idea to eat. She hadn't been planning to change that just for the Hero's Day dance— the one holiday that celebrates all of the heroes that protect their world.

But then Luke had asked her, and she's had a crush on him for as long as she can remember, and she's old enough to know that it doesn't feel quite right when he'd asked. So she told herself that she had to say yes, just to prove to herself that whatever she was feeling was a temporary issue due to nerves _alone_ , and that she would be over it soon.

She had spent the whole evening thinking about Percy as she got ready, trying to analyze the face he'd made when she told him that she was going with Luke. Luke had picked her up in his car, and Annabeth doesn't know why she had been worried about what her dad would do, because he doesn't even show up to wave her goodbye. He spends _his_ Friday nights locked up in his study, watching old tapes of his assigned Hero and trying to figure out how the two of them can perform better as a team. It makes something sting, low in Annabeth's stomach, but she ignores the twinge and tries not to think about how Percy would make it better. They go to the dance, she dances with Luke under the red, white, and blue lights, and Annabeth tries to feel like the navy colored dress that she is wearing belongs on her body, but she doesn't like the way the skirt flares out over her upper thighs and she doesn't like how there aren't any straps to keep it up.

So, okay. She's not having a good time with Luke. Which is _stupid_ because she _should_ be having a good time with Luke. It's Luke! She's had a thing for him since… forever. He's literally the boy next door, for Annabeth. Whenever her dad had to run out on missions with his hero, Luke and his mom would take care of her, and Annabeth had loved those times. Treasured them, even.

Which is why it doesn't make sense, why she keeps thinking about Percy.

Percy is her partner in almost everything she does. He is one of the best students in Applied Strategy classes, one of the most powerful teammates she could have in Phys Ed, and the lack of willingness he has to study always makes her push both him— and herself— harder.

But he isn't her partner like _that._ Never has been.

So… why. Why has she been staring at him this whole dance? And, a better question: why has he been staring _back_?

Halfway through the night, she's so frustrated that she finds herself leaving the gym to go outside, her wedges hitting angrily against the linoleum tile of the school building as Annabeth bursts forward to the flight room. She bounces a bit for a moment, testing the power in her legs given the added weight of her shoes, before she pushes off from the ground and allows herself to begin floating around the room.

She's never flown with a dress before, and it makes her feel a little exposed. Disappointed, Annabeth sinks back down to the ground, wishing that she had something a little more weightless.

And then the door smacks closed, and Percy's standing there, hands in his pockets as she lands back on the ground, and he looks guilty as he stares over at her.

"Sorry I've been so grumpy all night," he says.

Annabeth blinks. She hadn't noticed.

"Oh," she says. "It's okay, I guess."

"I'm just… kind of in a bad mood today."

"I noticed during chem."

"Hey, that water incident had _nothing_ to do with me."

"Okay. Sure."

He smiles a little, then looks over at her in her dress, and the smile drops.

"So. Are you, uh, having a good time?"

Her voice is confident as she says, "Not really."

"Yeah. Me neither."

"I don't think dances are really my thing."

"Me neither."

She sits on the floor of the flight pad, and Percy joins her in the center, folding his legs criss-cross-applesauce.

"So let's make a mutual agreement to never go to one again," decides Annabeth, making Percy laugh.

"Swear on it?" Percy suggests. She sighs.

"Do we have to every time?"

"Yep."

"Fine."

Annabeth spits onto her hand. Percy does too. They shake.

"See? Not so bad."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

He leans all the way back, staring up at the glass dome at the top of the landing room.

"When are you taking me on a flight?"

"When I'm better at flying."

"You're already good."

"What if I _drop_ you?"

"The floor is _bouncy_."

"You are not bouncy."

"It's not fair that you and Frank and Jason won't let anybody else fly with you."

"You're just jealous."

"Pffft," he says. "No I'm not."

"You and Piper and Hazel and Leo, sitting on the ground, _jealous_."

"You wish."

They stay under the stars for the rest of the dance, talking, and _that,_ Annabeth realizes, is her perfect idea of a Friday night.

_**Percy** _

It's very rare that Percy gets to see Annabeth lose her temper in an academic environment, and rarer still that she loses it because she feels insufficient. Which is why, in this moment, he sort of wishes he had a camera.

Annabeth is one of the most capable heroes he's ever met. She's extremely powerful, she's undoubtedly going to be their valedictorian, and she has more control over her abilities than most people in their year. And yet here she sits, her face red, her eyes narrowed, and parts of her hands turning invisible as her heartbeat picks up in frustration.

"It's going to be _okay_ ," Piper says next to her, voice quivering with laughter, but Annabeth just whirls around and glares at her because apparently it is not going to be okay and Piper is going to hell for suggesting such a thing.

"Easy for you to say. You were halfway done before I could thread the needle!" Annabeth grouses.

Percy is mostly finished stitching up the cape he's been working on— he'd picked the easiest project possible, despite the fact that capes are out of fashion at the moment and he desperately hopes they will never come into fashion in his lifetime as a hero.

"You just have to make your stitches a bit smaller," Piper coaxes, using her most soothing voice, and Percy and Annabeth both throw her warning looks, because sometimes she begins to use her powers without even realizing it. "Sorry," she says, chastised. "But seriously, Annabeth. You're doing great."

"Why is home ec even an elective?" asks Annabeth. "Can't the kids with Costume concentration take this class?"

"I think the better question is why _you're_ taking this elective," suggests Jason mildly. "You knew you'd hate it as soon as you got it on your schedule. Why didn't you switch out?"

"Because the only other class I was eligible for this period is Monster Anatomy, which I took over the summer."

"This is why you shouldn't take summer classes," tsks Percy. "Shoulda hung out at the pool with me."

Most of the students in the classroom are beginning to finish up their projects and are talking to each other in hushed voices, so Annabeth isn't surprised when their teacher doesn't call her out for being too social while she's in the middle of working.

"But then she would have missed out on this titillating academic experience," Piper says teasingly, tying off her project and ripping the thread with her teeth. "Done," she says, satisfied. "Now I can work on my history homework."

Despite the fact that Annabeth had most likely finished that homework days ago, she still groans.

"What if I just promise to never rip my costume?" she asks rhetorically. "Then can I get out of this class?"

Percy throws her a small smile, unable to keep his heart from fluttering at the redness of her cheeks.

"Here," he says, moving closer to her against his better judgement. The lemon scent of her hair washes over him in a way that makes his chest hurt, just a little bit, and he can't help but wiggle closer than he needs to be. "Let me."

He glances up to make sure that Mrs. Edelstein isn't looking, then carefully unclenches Annabeth's fingers and takes the needle from her. Carefully, with focus, he makes tiny stitches along the curve that she's been struggling with for fifteen minutes. They're a bit more obviously neater than the one she's been doing on the rest of the unitard she's been working on, but he doesn't think Mrs. Edelstein will notice. She isn't the most observant teacher at Olympia Prep.

When he finishes and looks up to tell her that she can take over from there, he's startled to find that her face is looming close to his, her eyes focusing on Percy's face. When she sees that she's been caught out, she looks down.

Hope springs to life in Percy's stomach— not for the first time.

"How did you do that?"

Annabeth's voice comes out breathy as she takes the needle from him and begins to carefully stitch the straighter part of the unitard.

"Dunno," he says. "Guess I'm just finally better than you at something."

He feels like it was the wrong thing to say a moment after he says it, and he expects her face to fall, but instead she just smiles, a little pained.

"Maybe lots of things," says Annabeth quietly. "But I guess that's okay."

"You do?"

She shrugs.

"Sure. I can't be perfect at everything."

"I think you just winced when you said that."

"And you are _kind of_ okay at some stuff," adds Annabeth. "Like helping me out with my home ec assignment, for one."

"True," Piper puts in. "You know, you two should be partners for the fake baby assignment next week. Since you're _so_ good at balancing each other out."

Percy fixes his face into a glare that he is reasonably certain Annabeth's matches. When Piper looks up and sees their expressions, she wiggles her eyebrows and blows them both a kiss.

"Piper," says Annabeth, aghast.

"Fine," she sighs. "Don't say I never tried to help you."

(Neither of them is brave enough to ask her what she means.)

* * *

"Leo, what the hell is on your sandwich, bro?" Percy asks, wrinkling his nose at the piece of wonderbread that Leo is about to raise to his lips.

"Potato chips, mayonnaise, pickles, and ham," recites Leo, wiggling his eyebrows at the sandwich before opening his mouth extremely wide and taking a huge chomp out of it.

Next to Percy, Annabeth pulls a face, staring at Leo in minor horror as he chews happily on his sandwich.

"That's disgusting," she says flatly. Next to her, Hazel lets out a tiny laugh, then covers her mouth with her hand and tries to keep her face straight when Leo's eyes catch hers.

"You just lack creativity," Leo tells her, continuing to chew happily. "This is delicious. You know what would make it better?"

"Being in a trash bin?" suggests Piper. Leo ignores this.

"Green pepper."

The whole table groans loudly just as Jason approaches them and sits down, his face contorting in confusion.

"What happened?" he asks.

"Leo," Annabeth tells him flatly.

"Ah, say no more."

"Where were you?" Frank inquires as Jason pulls his lunchbox out of his backpack and unzips it, rummaging through it before he pulls out edamame and begins munching on it happily.

"He had his hero meeting with Chiron," Piper says fondly, rubbing a hand over Jason's knee. "How did it go?"

They all turn to him with curious looks on their faces, and minor trepidation as well. Annabeth had already gone to her meeting, as her last name begins with 'C,' but she had been surprisingly tight-lipped about what occurred behind closed doors. Percy had showed up at her house two weeks ago with a pineapple pizza and had promised to sit through two _whole_ architecture documentaries if she told him what had happened. But Annabeth had just taken the pizza from him with a small smile and promptly shut the door in his face.

She had sent him a text message later about how ineffective blackmail is, and how you're not supposed to talk about your meeting with Chiron, but Percy had replied with a snapchat of him sticking his tongue out at her and then hadn't asked her about it again.

It's not like he doesn't know exactly how Annabeth's story is going to end. It's going to end with her in a hero costume on the front page of a newspaper while he stands in the audience and claps and knows that she could do this a million times over because she is the most exceptional person he knows. It's going to end with Percy by Annabeth's side no matter _what_ happens, because he would do anything for her. He just would. It's a fact of life— more than he cares about his super strength, more than he cares about his ability to control the elements, he cares about Annabeth. Cares about her happiness, and her existence.

So regardless of what form he takes in her life, he knows he's going to be next to her.

He just hopes he's a hero as well, and not a sidekick. He's pretty sure he will be, but he's still woken up with a number of nightmares about his hero's meeting because there is nothing scarier than the idea of going in there and being told that he isn't good enough.

"It was fine," Jason divulges. "Chiron is really cool about it. Just asks you about your strengths and weaknesses, stuff like that."

Frank's brow crinkles.

"So it's like a job interview."

"Sort of." Jason shrugs, digging a cracker into some brie. "Except he asks you what you think a lot. It was almost like he was monitoring my mental state as well as my physical abilities."

Next to Percy, Annabeth's back straightens a little bit. He wonders if she's picturing her own meeting.

"They monitor the physical stuff throughout our time here," adds Piper. "I guess maybe these meetings are more about what we can hand on an emotional level?"

Frank leans forward a little bit, his eyes wide.

"Does he ask you if you want to be a hero or a sidekick?"

There's a moment of silence. Jason exchanges reticent glances with Annabeth, who purses her lips.

"We're really not supposed to be talking about it," she cuts in, shooting a chastising look towards Frank. "You know that."

"My name's all the way at the end of the alphabet," he sighs. "I'm not going to have a meeting for weeks now."

"Percy's is right around the corner," Piper says. "You ready to go, Jackson?"

He reaches across the table to fist bump Piper with a bravado that he doesn't possess.

"You bet your ass I am, McClean," he says, making Annabeth break her stoic expression and burst into laughter.

"And why exactly does Piper need to bet her ass on you?"

"It's a nice ass," Piper adds. "It's worth a _lot_." Next to her, Jason's cheeks pinken. "See?" continues Piper. "He agrees.

Percy glances up towards the ceiling, pretending to be exasperated by the antics of his friends, but in reality, he's glowing on the inside. In a school as enormous and competitive as this one, in a school where every member is _entitled_ to be there, it is so easy to lose yourself. He's so glad to have found a group of friends who show him who he is, how to smile, how to be happy, every single day of his life.

"What if we stopped talking about Piper's ass?" suggests Annabeth, nudging Percy in the side.

"Would you like him to bring up yours instead?" asks Piper sweetly, causing Leo to choke on his disgusting sandwich and spit it all the way across the table. "Leo! Ew?"

"Sorry," he says, looking appropriately apologetic. "I just…" They all stare at him. He swallows. "Just… you know. Percy talking about Annabeth's ass. It's funny, you know? Cuz, like…"

Percy's heart is pounding in his chest. Annabeth looks frozen. Piper is smiling.

"Yes, Leo, why?"

"Because… you know…"

"We don't," says Piper. Jason throws her a warning look, as does Annabeth. Piper ignores this. "I'm just saying, we have _no_ idea what Leo's saying."

He's regretting ever admitting to Piper that he has feelings for Annabeth. He should have left them in a box with the lid locked so tight, it would need a sledgehammer to be opened again.

"So," Leo says, trying to divert the subject. "Did you hear about the incident in Central City last night?"

Jason, who has undoubtedly read

every newspaper article on the story, latches onto the subject quickly and begins talking a mile a minute. Percy lets out a sigh of relief, and Annabeth does the same.

When he looks up at Piper, she's still smiling.

 

* * *

 

It's raining on the day of Annabeth's dad's funeral.

His mom bundles him into a rain jacket and hands him an umbrella, and Percy doesn't mind the extra few hugs she gives him before the two of them leave for the small, solemn service. Normal superhero funerals are large, but Annabeth's dad was an eccentric sidekick, and Percy is almost startled to see how few people had bothered to show up to pay their respects to him.

He holds the umbrella high over his mom's head, and the two of them stand a few rows back from where Annabeth is, silent and a little bit stunned. Percy wonders if his mom is thinking about his dad. He is. He hasn't been able to stop thinking about how lucky he is that his hero parent is alive— and his mortal one, to be truthful. Annabeth's mom is powerful and beloved, but not to Annabeth herself, and her dad is the one who raised her. She'd always resented getting his powers, but she had never resented him.

It's too short, the service. Percy doesn't feel like he's ready to watch the casket lower into the ground. He certainly doesn't think that _Annabeth_ is ready to watch the casket lower into the ground. His eyes are trained on her, in a simple black dress that she looks uncomfortable in, her hair pulled back neatly with a clip. He wonders who had dressed her, and how empty she had to have been feeling, in order to let someone take that much control over her appearance.

There's nothing Annabeth loves more than an organized sense of control, but it's gone now. That's gone and Percy doesn't know how to give it back to her. So instead he leaves his umbrella with his mom, kisses her on the cheek, and approaches Annabeth quietly as he can, his sneakers scrunching oddly against the grass that is wet from the rain.

"Hi," he says, once he is at her side.

"I'm an orphan," comes Annabeth's emotionless reply, staring at the ground where her father is buried.

He doesn't remind her that her mom's alive. He knows she knows.

"What happens now?" asks Percy.

"I move in with Piper," says Annabeth, emotionless.

"Her dad wasn't approved to find out about us."

"He doesn't need to know." She sounds empty. It makes his heart drop to his shoes. He doesn't know what to _do_. "Her dad doesn't care, and it's just another person to lie to."

"Annabeth—"

"I'm going to kill him."

It takes Percy a moment to register what she'd just said.

"Who?"

"Kronos. I'm going to kill Kronos."

" _Kronos_ killed your father?"

"And I'm going to kill him."

Percy blinks.

"But… you can't."

For the first time, she turns to him, her eyes fierce.

"And why not?"

"Because… it's illegal. The council will take away your right to be a hero. And I don't think your mom being on it is going to get you off for murder, Annabeth."

The council, run by Zeus, is the twelve seat governmental system which presides over all of the decisions made in their world. And they're the ones who ruled that heroes are only allowed to imprison, not kill. So Annabeth can't kill Kronos. She just… can't.

"And?"

"This is your pride talking."

He regrets saying it as soon as it's out, but he's so taken aback. He doesn't know what to do.

"This is 'he _murdered_ my father' talking.'"

"Annabeth…" Percy takes a breath. "If you kill someone, you can't be a Hero. You won't get assigned a city, you won't get a sidekick. Everything you want won't happen. Everything you've been dreaming of won't come true."

And she's smiling a little as she says, "Would you believe me if I told you that I don't care?"

The scary part is that he does.

(But the scariest idea, maybe even scarier than _that_ , is that maybe nothing will be back to normal tomorrow. And he could lose her. He's always been afraid of losing her.)

_**Annabeth** _

Her ponytail swishes wildly over her shoulder as Annabeth ducks away from Percy's sword.

They're standing in the center of the gym, both barefoot and with their dominant hands behind their backs as they spar back and forth. Annabeth's main skill has never been swordfighting, but it's certainly Percy's, and she can't help but stare at him as he lunges forward, driving his sword against hers. She's so distracted by the sweat on his collarbone that she almost misses the opportunity to block him, but Annabeth ducks down and then _swings_ , ending up swiping the sword underneath Percy's feet as he leaps into the air.

"Come on," he complains, a little irked as he leans at her again. "Please don't _actually_ injure me."

"You were going to jump," says Annabeth flippantly, tossing another jab at him. Percy dives away from her sword, tossing her an annoyed look.

"And what if I hadn't?"

"Then you would have been two feet shorter."

She says it with a straight face, but Percy catches her tone immediately and brings his right hand up to cover his face as he laughs, mouth wide and open. She likes the way his cheeks like when he chortles like this, and the way his eyes crinkle prettily. She likes _him_.

But that is a problem that Annabeth has spent the entire summer working through. Because there's sort of… there's nothing that's going to change, is there? Percy will always be her best friend. Percy will always be a _superhero_. And love and superheroes don't mix well. They've got a school full of kids who only grew up with one parent that can prove just that.

She'd rather keep him as her best friend than deal with how much anything else could potentially hurt her.

"You're welcome for that joke," Percy tells her, placing a hand over his heart to show sincerity. "Only a master like me would have been able to teach you something so majestic."

"Right, because before I was fourteen, I had no sense of humor," replies Annabeth flatly, jabbing at him with her sword again. Percy leaps out of the way, then starts laughing again.

(And if she soaks in his happiness, robs it from him like a thief, then that's okay. She can let herself do that. She can let herself love him. He's her best friend.)

"You sort of didn't, though."

He does some sort of fancy movement with his feet, mostly to crack her up, and it works as she takes a few steps backwards before lunging at him. Percy twirls out of the way, flashing her a wide grin over his shoulder.

"I resent that implication," she says, tone haughty, but he can see right through her, and he climbs up onto the bleachers before Annabeth has the chance to swing widely at him. In the mostly empty gym, Annabeth's sneakers squeak loudly as she runs towards him. "I've got my very own sense of humor, thank you very much."

Percy makes to flip off of the bleachers, and Annabeth pushes off from the ground hard, floating into the air when Percy comes at her. He lets out an annoyed huff; she breaks out into a small smile at the good-natured exasperation he wears on his face.

"Maybe we know each other too well to spar," Percy suggests thoughtfully.

She thinks back to the flip and realizes that it's a move that she's probably used on him one too many times.

"Maybe," Annabeth agrees lightly, but she doesn't feel upset about it. Not one bit.

He's an idiot, but she wouldn't want to learn herself from anybody else. Percy Jackson is the greatest teacher at Olympia Prep because he had made her _better_ — made her change her mind, made her laugh. Made her fall, despite the fact that one of her powers is flying.

Annabeth has always liked the feeling of not wanting to take anything back.

* * *

"I think I've eaten fifty of these now," Leo says regretfully, staring at the cream puff that is in his hand.

"Fifty-one," Hazel informs him, teasing a little. "I counted."

Annabeth yawns widely where she sits on the floor, wrapping her hoodie tighter around her body. It's only midnight, but somehow knowing the fact that they're going to have to stay up all night is making her feel more tired. The senior lock in is a tradition at Olympia Prep, but it's not one that Annabeth has been looking forward to. For years, she's been anxious about what comes at the end of it— she will finally be assigned her city and her sidekick.

Other than that, it's fun, she supposes. They've been busy the entire night, running around the school on treasure hunts, having mass grade-wide games of Zombies vs Humans, and even some flying contests (she'd won, obviously) and speedster contests (which she'd had to watch, but had been almost equally entertaining.) It's the first time they've been able to just relax all night, however, and Annabeth is in desperate need for some coffee.

"You look tired," Piper says sympathetically.

"At least she's faring better than Jason," Percy points out. His best friend is currently dead asleep, his head on his girlfriend's lap.

"Poor guy usually passes out around eight thirty," Piper tells them, patting Jason's hair sympathetically. "I'm surprised he made it past ten."

"It's probably because of the pie eating contest," suggests Frank. "You know how he get when he eats too much sugar."

"Speaking of which," says Percy. "I need to grab another pixie stick."

"No way," Annabeth protests, grabbing his wrist to tug him back down onto the floor with her. "You don't need a pixie stick to stay awake, and I don't need you freaking out all of our lovely classmates just when we're about to get out of here."

"But they're so good!" he complains, pouting at her.

"Don't test sleep Annabeth," suggests Leo. "She gets _grumpy._ "

Percy shuts up immediately, Annabeth notes to her satisfaction, because, yeah. They all know Leo's got a point.

"Why don't the two of you go outside?" Piper suggests. "It'll wake up Annabeth, and Percy won't be anywhere near the pixie sticks. Win-win situation."

"Sure," Percy says easily, rising up and reaching out his hand for Annabeth's.

She doesn't know when it became commonplace for them to hold hands, but somehow she can't actually fathom the idea of them _not_ doing that. It's easy with Percy. It's always been easy with Percy. She thinks that might be why it was so simple for her to fall in love with him.

"Flight room?" he asks, and she nods, turning the proper corner and following him there. It's locked, but Percy uses his strength to get it open, smirking to himself a little bit when the handle breaks under his strong grip. (She'd feel bad about defacing school property, but they have door handles in _bulk_ for just this reason. She's seen the supply closets.)

It's dark, cool, and quiet as the two of them sit down on the floor and look up at the ceiling.

"Are you ready for your assignment?" Annabeth asks, starting off on a casual note.

"I guess," Percy says. "I think I'm kinda worried that it'll be far away from my mom." (A beat.) "And from you."

Her lids close for a moment, and when she opens them, his green eyes are the only thing she can see. In the darkness of the room, illuminated only by the moon and the stars, Annabeth thinks about how intangible everything else is. Right now, all she knows is the air, and Percy Jackson. Percy.

"There's this… weird philosophical school of thought that states that, in theory, nothing could be real, nothing could exist, except you. It's the only thing you really _know_ , because everything else is a part of the reality that you could theoretically create. And how are you supposed to know if everybody else is experiencing that same reality with you?"

He blinks.

"Oookay?" he says slowly.

"I like knowing things," Annabeth says quietly. "I like facts. I don't want… god. I don't want to lose any of that. I'm _scared_ to lose that. I like it the way it is now, I like high school, I like Olympia Prep, I like my friends. I know what it's like for everything to go dark, and I don't want that to happen to any of you. And we're heading off into this world where any of us could get killed at any time, and it's not safe, and I'm… Perce, I'm scared."

"I think you're supposed to be," he says, voice thick. "I know my mom loves me and supports me, but I think somehow she is just realizing, now that we're graduating, that I'm actually going to be doing what my dad did. And I think a part of her hates it, even though she's known it for years."

"When did we grow up?" she asks humorlessly.

"You did the moment your dad died." His words hit her like a blow. To the stomach. Annabeth can't breathe for a moment, as Percy apologetically brushes his thumb over the top of her hand. "Sorry."

"Don't be." She hesitates. "I feel like I never get to be a kid. Do you know what I mean? We have to go out and protect this world from all the _shit_ in it, and I never got to do the stuff that kids do. I was so busy readying myself to be as good as my mom that I forgot… god. I think I forgot to actually live my life."

"You didn't," Percy says, and his voice sounds like he's aching. "I promise, I promise we tried. We had sleepovers with our friends, we went to the beach, we did homework together, we practiced fighting."

"It all seems like nothing now," admits Annabeth.

"I know," he agrees quietly. "I don't want to leave."

"I hate change," she says.

When she looks over at him, his eyes are sad and desperate and pained, and it occurs to Annabeth that she put him like that. This is her fault. He's her favorite person in the world, he is the sunshine in her day, and she is causing him _pain_. It strikes her against the chest, just as brutal as she would wish upon herself for hurting someone who is brighter than moonbeams.

So she does the only thing she can think to fix it. She leans forward, she presses her mouth against his, and she tries to knit him back together by kissing him.

His hand comes up to cup her jaw, the other one cradling her cheek, and he's kissing her back too, his lips working insistently against hers. They don't speak. Instead, they shift closer on the floor, Annabeth moving into Percy's lap, reveling in the way his hair feels soft as she pulls it tight in her hands.

He slides his hands from her cheeks to her hips, squeezing tight as she kisses him until they're both breathless, and then she keeps kissing him anyways, unable stop herself, to stop the want that flows through her like an addiction. She suddenly feels energy coursing through her body, endless and invigorating and demanding her for more.

"Percy," she mumbles against his lips, and that's all he needs to slide his hands from her waist to her ass, pulling her deeper into him.

"Yeah," he murmurs, then goes back to kissing her without saying anything else.

He has _sex_ hair when they pull back; Annabeth hadn't realized she'd been gripping his hair so hard, and it makes her smooth it back a little bit with her hands. The way his lips are red and bitten makes her _blanche_. She'd done that to him.

Oh god. She'd _kissed_ him.

"Sorry!" she blurts out. "I'm sorry."

His eyes widen a little.

"Oh, yeah," he says, sounding a little punch drunk. "Me too."

"I think we're just stressed out."

"Right."

"We should probably go back."

"Yeah. True. We… we should do that."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Right."

"Okay."

"Yeah."

Oh, this is probably going to end _so_ well.

* * *

Percy cracks her up during her graduation speech, and Annabeth wants to _kill_ him.

"Why?" she demands after she gets off stage and everybody has their diploma. Sally is making her way towards them through the throngs of people, and Percy pulls her aside, big grin stretched out across his mouth. "Why did you do that?"

"Because you were taking it way too seriously," he tells her. "It's graduation day! We did it!"

"I'm well aware," she says flatly. "That was one of the talking points of my speech."

He puts his arm around her shoulders and musses up her hair. It's a little forced; a little awkward. Twelve hours ago, she was basically dry humping against him.

"But listen," he says, pressing his cheek against the top of her head. "I thought about what you were saying last night, and I was thinking that… well. Maybe change is okay." He smiles at her. "We're going to be okay."

For a moment, she stares at him, and it's so heavy. Seconds pass that feel like hours. She can't stop staring at him. Can't stop feeling like she's missing something.

"Pictures!" shrieks Piper, barreling through the two of them. Annabeth blinks in surprise, and Percy does too, and when they catch each other, they both laugh a little awkwardly.

"Come on," Annabeth says, linking her arm through his. "Your mom is going to want about eight million shots for her wall."

"Ugh," groans Percy, but he smiles good naturedly and walks a little bit faster to join their friends in the sunshine.

Annabeth hangs back for a moment, beaming as she watches him knock Jason's cap off of his head.

Change can be okay. They'll make it. They have to.

**Percy**

It's windier than Percy had expected when he'd been getting dressed this morning. He wraps his black pea coat tighter around his body and shivers slightly against the wind, desperately wishing that the entry level superhero job came with more perks. Until he's a bit more famous, or there was more violence in his city, he's stuck doing an actual _job_ , which is especially ridiculous when he considers the fact that Olympia Prep had basically trained them for nothing.

At least Annabeth seems to be enjoying her internship at the architecture firm. He guesses that's one perk of being a superhero— they have connections from Olympia Prep _everywhere_ , which is the reason all of them are able to hold jobs down, and Annabeth had gotten one that she loves. Percy is just working in a dreary cubicle that makes him want to rip his hair out, but Annabeth is pursuing her passion in her offtime.

Sometimes he feels like she is back to normal for the first time since her dad died.

The wind is still nipping at Percy as he approaches his office building. Making a last minute decision, he ducks into Starbucks, orders a hot chocolate, and stands off to the side, hoping that the drink will warm his raw hands. It's a freezing cold winter this year, and he's been downing more hot chocolate than is probably healthy.

"Wow, look at her go," says a voice behind him. "She's amazing."

"She's incredible," agrees another voice. "Zeffer's one of the best ones we've seen in years, I think."

Percy's back stiffens at the sound of Annabeth's name. He glances back towards the men, realizing that they are watching the TV screen. Slowly, he turns around to see exactly what they're looking at.

Annabeth's blond hair is streaming behind her as she flies high above the sky, using one of Leo's favorite fireball inventions to attack her monster offensively. Percy's eyes skate over the screen, looking for the word "live" written in block letters, but it isn't there. His posture relaxes slightly; she's fine. This is just replay footage.

(He's learned, over these past several months, that having a best friend who is a superhero means always being scared. He has also learned that being in love with that best friend makes things a thousand times worse.)

"She's going to do amazing things for her city," says the old man in an admiring, carrying voice, while his companion nods emphatically.

"That she will."

"Yeah," Percy murmurs, staring at the tiny Annabeth on the television screen. "She will."

* * *

 

"No, that won't work," Annabeth says, shaking her head dejectedly. She's standing on his couch in pajama shorts and a t-shirt, her hair thrown into a messy bun on top of her head. There's a red marker tucked behind her ear, a green one tapping against her bottom lip, and a blue pen hanging from the gray shirt that slips off of her shoulders. "Because if he's got ice powers, that will automatically be able to freeze you out if you get too close anyways."

Percy huffs in minor frustration, taking a step back to look at the whiteboard they have set up on the wall opposite his couch in his living room.

"I still think my best bet is to focus harder on my water powers with him."

"How, exactly, when you're just going to get the water frozen and it's going to be rendered totally useless?"

"Well, we're kinda running out of options here," Percy says a little desperately, sliding a hand through his hair and ruffling it agitatedly. He's been on edge since this villain had found its way into his city and he had lost a fight to it. And another one. And another one. And another one.

It's been months, and Percy is feeling so completely incompetent. He isn't used to _losing_. He is used to coming out on top and doing whatever he can to make it work, because he knows that the life of his citizens are more important than his own life. Percy had vowed to protect them. He isn't going to go back on that now.

"Hey," Annabeth says, her voice going soft. She hops off of the couch and walks over to him, crossing her arms over her chest and bumping his hip with hers. "Percy. There's a way to do this. We just need a plan. We need to figure out his weaknesses."

She's right, he _knows_ she's right, but it doesn't stop him from being annoyed with himself as he reaches for a slice of pizza from the half-empty box on the coffee table, grabbing a slice and folding it before he sticks it into his mouth and begins to chew angrily.

"We know what his weakness is. And nothing I have would be able to help with that."

"We just need to think."

"Or I needed to be born with fire powers," he grumbles.

"Well it's a little too late to change your parentage," Annabeth says wryly, taking a sip of wine from the box she keeps in Percy's pantry. "So chin up, Jackson. Focus, okay?"

He sighs, nodding a little as he polishes off his slice of pizza and backs up a little to stand on the couch and stare at the board which is covered with both his and Annabeth's handwritings. He likes it because he can tell who wrote what. Their words sloppily intertwine all across the board, Annabeth's ideas feeding into Percy's, Percy inspiring Annabeth. Their words interlap and sometimes cover each other, one handwriting neat and precise, the other sloppy and messy.

But through all that, it still makes sense.

They make sense.

Annabeth yawns.

Percy asks immediately. "Do you want to go over this tomorrow morning?"

"No," she says, still yawning a bit. "I said I'd come over and help you figure out what to do."

"Maybe it was all a guise to get you to bring me a pizza," teases Percy. "C'mon, Annabeth. Go to bed. You're exhausted."

She sighs, looking a little relieved as she nods and ambles over to his bedroom.

"Is it my turn for the air mattress or yours?" she asks

"Mine," he lies.

"Cool," Annabeth says, flopping onto his bed and wiggling around until she's under the covers. "I'll get up and brush my teeth in a second."

"Sure you will," he says, teasing as he bends over to grab the air mattress from a chest across the room. "Hey, I forgot to ask, how did it go defeating those telepaths? Was Leo able to help you out? I feel like having him for a sidekick might not actually be the best case scenario for that, did you guys figure it out?" There's a long silence. He turns around, confused. "Annabeth?"

She's dead asleep. Of course.

He doesn't bother to fight back a smile at how peaceful she looks when she's sleeping.

* * *

 

"Hey, Percy, it's Annabeth. Are you there? Okay. You're not there, obviously. Um. So… Hi. I'm just calling to say that I'm sorry about having to cancel on you again. These last few months have been crazy. You know that. Of course you know that. You're going through the same thing I am, I know that, it's just... I guess I always forget that you're sort of the only person in the world who I don't have to explain myself to. Which is weird to think about. I… well. I miss you. I'm sorry I haven't been around; everything's been so dangerous lately and I get called in constantly and I… god, I'm rambling. I'm tired. I just feel like I don't have any time anymore. But, just know that if I _did_ , I would spend it with you. I really miss you. But you know that. Because I already said it. It's just sort of weird to go from seeing you every single day of my life and suddenly it feels like you're missing from it. So I just need you to know that I want you in it, and it's not my choice that it's been so long. And that this is the weirdest message I've ever left. Um, okay. By, Perce. Love you. I mean… yeah. Bye."

 

* * *

Percy hates waking up in hospital beds.

It's never _not_ disconcerting. Occasionally, Percy's sidekick takes him to the apartment of one of his friends— usually Hazel, because of her med focus— but sometimes he isn't conscious enough to tell him that he doesn't want to go to the hospital. When that's the case, he is always startled to find himself between starchy white sheets, the smell of antiseptic all around him.

But more startling than that is the way Annabeth reacts every single time.

The first time he'd woken up in the hospital when they had just graduated high school a few years back— and, God, sometimes it seems like just yesterday still— Annabeth had been the first person he saw when he woke up. She'd been facedown on his bed, surrounded by a halo of her hair, and when he'd shifted a little in bed, Annabeth had shot up, her eyes bloodshot, tear tracks running down her face. She'd hugged him immediately, and there had been a horrible moment where she'd leaned forward and commanded that he never do that to her again before she had remembered what they did. And then she had just laughed a little, sat back down in the chair, and told him to recount the story in a measured, controlled voice that had let him know how seriously she felt about it.

No "how are you?" No "how do you feel?" No "was it scary?" Just: "Please give me a step-by-step analysis of everything that went wrong so that it doesn't happen again." He really does love this girl.

He wishes she'd love him too.

This time, however, she is sitting in a chair next to his bed, on her phone, her thumbs speeding across the pad. She doesn't look up until he croaks out her name, a little weakly, his throat dry. His mouth tastes like smoke.

"Hey," she says, her voice just as controlled as it always is when she doesn't want him to know that she's controlling it. "You need to stop getting hit by the arms of oversized villains."

"Good call," Percy manages to get out. Annabeth sighs emphatically, getting out of her chair and putting her phone down so that she can go over to the side table and pour him some water. He gulps it down gratefully, and she smoothes his hair back with fondness as she watches him drink.

"Logically I know that I shouldn't be worried about you," she says quietly. "But… I don't know. I guess I just am sometimes."

"That's okay," he says, perhaps a little too eagerly. "I get worried for you too."

She shakes her head at him, giving him the stare that lets him know that she thinks he's frustrating and silly and lovable.

"You shouldn't," she says. "I can take care of myself."

"Well," he replies. "I can't."

Annabeth smiles a little, her eyes lighting up slightly, before she tames it, shaking her head.

"I talked to your mom while you were out."

"Oh yeah?"

"She said she'll be here as soon as she can and don't get into any more fights while she's on the train."

"Sounds good," Percy says. "Unless…"

"What?"

"Unless you'd like to armwrestle?"

He blinks innocently at her.

"I'm not arm wrestling with you."

"What? Are you scared?"

"You have _super strength_ ," Annabeth points out, just as irked as she always gets when he brings this up. "That would be like me playing hide-and-seek with you."

"What?" Percy gasps, mock offended. "We can never do that! You can turn _invisible_. What an unfair advantage."

"Ugh." She sits on the bed next to his legs. "You hanging in there, Jackson?"

"'Course I am, Chase," he replies. "You're gonna be dealing with me for a long, long time."

And as long as it is, he's still relatively certain that it will never be long enough.

"Percy!"

He looks up in surprise at the desperate voice at the doorway. Annabeth shoots off of his bed in a second.

"Nessa?"

His girlfriend is standing there, looking completely out of sorts as she takes in his current state.

"What happened?" she asks, rushing over to him and throwing her arms around him. Her dark hair envelopes him pleasantly, and she smells like hazelnut, and he tells himself that he likes her more than he does because it is the right thing to do.

"I'm just clumsy," he lies, because he hasn't applied to tell her, and she can't know that he's a superhero. This relationship is brand new and he's already sick of lying.

"I'll just… go," Annabeth says, smiling wanly. "See you later, Perce."

Oh yeah. He's sick of that, too.

**Annabeth**

Piper's favorite restaurant is almost always loud, and is _always_ too crowded. Annabeth squeezes her way through the buzzing throngs of people, trying not to get too annoyed. She's past the years where she isn't able to control her powers enough to get through situations like this without turning invisible, but sometimes she wishes that she could use youth and inexperience as an excuse to get through moments like these.

Still. Annabeth hurries through the crowd, squeezing her way past everybody until she finally finds Piper sitting at a low wooden table with the rest of their friends, nabbing a celery stick from Frank's plate and dunking it in ranch dressing.

"Sorry I'm late!" Annabeth apologizes as soon as she gets close enough, and Piper brushes a hand through the air, unconcerned. "There was an… emergency."

"We know," says Jason grimly, raising his phone to show her the article he has pulled up on his screen. "Are you okay?"

"Absolutely fine," promises Annabeth, noticing Hazel visibly relax when she says it.

"Don't even worry about it," Piper says as Annabeth slides into the booth next to her. "I have spicy buffalo wings, so nothing else in this entire world matters."

"Besides," adds Leo, "you're not actually the latest."

"No?" questions Annabeth. "Who is, then?"

"Uh, that would be me," comes Percy's familiar voice, and Annabeth whizzes around to see him and his new girlfriend standing at the edge of the table, hand in hand. Percy is shuffling a hand guiltily through his hair as he looks across at his friends, looking just reticent enough that Annabeth's heart warms to him immediately.

She wishes that she could say that there isn't a twinge of jealousy when she looks at the blond girl standing next to Percy, her white-teeth on full display as she offers all of them sweet smiles, but Annabeth can't claim that. What she can claim is the ability to control it.

"Hey, how are you? It's been a few weeks."

His scent washes over her as he slides into the booth next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to squeeze in a quick, friendly hug before turning back to Nessa.

"Yeah, it's been crazy," he says, snatching the menu from her hands and flashing her a sly smirk before opening it and beginning to survey the items. "Nessa's just been thinking about introducing me to her parents, so she's been prepping me."

"Stop," admonishes the girl, nudging into his side with her temple. It's cute. Annabeth wants to vomit. "I think you'd be _incredible_ with my parents. You're sweet." She turns to Annabeth, smile wide. "He just wants to know everything about my mom and dad so that they won't hate them."

"What if they're gun nuts?" says Percy. "What if they're gun nuts and I go in there and start ranting about the NRA and then they hate me forever?"

"Please," says Annabeth. "Like you ever rant about the NRA."

"She's got a point," Frank says around a mouthful of jalapeno poppers.

"Exactly." (Annabeth nods approvingly at Frank.) "So there you go. You'll be fine."

And he will. He'll be fine. Without her. He'll be fine.

The thought is uncomfortable, and Annabeth pushes it down immediately, her whole body reacting tensely to the thought. He's her best friend. She can't think like that. She can't think like that, because if she does, she loses everything.

Her thoughts don't return to the conversation until she feels a head on her shoulder, and then Annabeth looks to her side to see Piper leaning against her. The rest of the table is empty.

"Everybody left to go play Dance Dance Revolution," Piper says, answering her unasked question. "You were a little… zoned out."

"Oh," replies Annabeth. "Sorry."

"No problem," Piper says easily. "It's understandable."

She nods to herself, leaning her head against Piper's. Then Annabeth shoots back up, quirking her eyebrows high on her forehead.

"Wait. What do you mean it's understandable?"

"You know," Piper says, straightening up as well. "Because you're in love with Percy and he's with someone else and it's… getting a little serious."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth says. "It's not getting serious."

Piper stares at her.

"He's meeting her parents. And he cares what they think."

"So? He's a good person."

She glances over at the DDR station, where Percy is swinging his hips wildly as he battles it out with Leo. He always dances a little too hard, comically hard, in a way that makes her smile wide. He's adorable.

"Wow, so not only are you in denial, you are in _total_ denial."

Annabeth shakes her head, sliding out of the booth and wrapping her fingers around Piper's wrist so that she'll follow her.

"I'm not in denial," she says.

"You're _crazy_ ," Piper tells her. "And this is going to end so badly."

Her eyes skate over to Percy again, and she thinks, with a jolt in her stomach, that maybe it already did. At least for her.

* * *

Thanksgiving at Sally's is always a boisterous affair. They usually pile into Jason's car and drive down to her Long Island home together, arguing over the radio, and listening to everybody's playlist except Frank's, which is an odd mix of classical and hip-hop. When they get there, the house is always filled with the incredible scents of Sally's cooking, and Annabeth can remember walking into this warm, comforting home as early as seventeen years old, feeling so much safer here than she does anywhere else.

It's odd, because so many of them feel like orphans, and yet Percy seems to be filled with a constant joy for his upbringing. Annabeth knows that he would never ask for more than the mother he'd gotten, which is reflected in the way he leaps like a little kid as he gets out of the car and wraps his arms tight around his mother, plopping a playful kiss on the top of his head as he pulls away. He's about two heads taller than her, and it's hilarious how far he has to stoop to greet his mother hello.

But because Percy is less of an orphan than the rest of them, he had over the years accepted all of them into his family. It is one of Annabeth's favorite things about him. She doesn't exactly _love_ the way the fact that their small, four person thanksgivings have turned into enormous festivities, because she remembers loving the quiet intimacy of having a woman treat you like her own. But still. She wouldn't exactly eject their friends from the house.

Annabeth knows what it's like to feel like an orphan. Even when she wasn't done, she had constantly felt like she had nobody. And most of their friends from high school have parents who barely remember to send them birthday gifts, much less sit down with them for Thanksgiving. So she holds her tongue.

Still. When Sally tells Annabeth to sit on her other side at the dinner table, right across from Percy, she can't help but smile a little smugly. It's nice to know that she will always be the favorite— at least for now.

"This is a beautiful meal, Mrs. Jackson," Piper says, sucking up very obviously. Annabeth narrows her eyes at her, and Piper sticks her tongue out at her when Sally isn't looking.

"I think your mashed potatoes are even better than usual," points out Leo through a mouthful of the aforementioned food.

"I added more butter," Sally tells him, her eyes crinkling with a smile. "All the better for our cholesterol, hmmm?"

Hazel, in all the glory of her nursing degree, squirms a little in her seat, drawing Percy's attention and making him crack up into his stuffing.

"So, Mrs. Jackson, what are you most thankful for this year?" asks Jason. Everybody groans loudly, and the groan is still ringing through the room when Annabeth feels vibrations in her wristwatch.

"Excuse me a moment," she says, pushing back from her chair and ducking into the front hallway.

Annabeth leans against one of the walls that is covered with pictures of baby Percy, trying not to smile at his toothless grin, or at the picture of him sitting in the bathtub, playing with a rubber duckie.

She clicks the on button on her wristwatch and confirms that she is clear to hear the message.

"There's been a 10-15 on 53rd and Jefferson," comes an automated voice. "Category: Orange."

Of course someone armed would rob a store the day before black Friday. Of course that would ruin her Thanksgiving.

She's about to head into the other room to make her excuses and grab Leo when Percy ducks into the hallway, looking concerned.

"Hey," he says, approaching her. "That work?"

Annabeth nods.

"I actually have to go."

He sighs.

"Of course you do."

"I'll be back, if I can."

"What is it?"

She doesn't think she's imagining the trepidation on his face.

"Just a 10-15," Annabeth says. "Nothing I can't handle."

Percy's shoulders untense a little bit.

"Okay," he says, nodding almost to himself. "I'll send Leo over to you."

"Thanks," says Annabeth softly.

"Hey," Percy adds, turning back to her one last time. "You looked really nice today."

She glances down at the red sweater that she is wearing tucked into a black high waisted skirt.

"Oh," says Annabeth, a little surprised. "Thank you."

"Yeah," replies Percy, his cheeks turning faintly red. "Uh, no problem. I'll see you later."

"See you," she whispers, knowing that she won't.

* * *

"This is the _third_ time this week, Percy!"

Annabeth pauses as she walks out of Percy's bedroom, her stomach clenching with anxiety as she hears Nessa's frustrated voice ringing through his apartment. She'd only spent five minutes rooting through the pigsty of his dresser drawer, trying to find The Princess Bride, and it's probably her fault that she hadn't heard Nessa come in through the door.

"I'm sorry," he says. "Something came up."

"Something is _always_ coming up with you."

"I know, but—"

"And you come back with your face all beaten up, sometimes, and these cuts and you tell me you don't know where they come from… what's going on. Are you in some sort of trouble? Can you _tell_ me?"

He's silent for several long moments. When he finally does speak, it is in a low, even tone.

"I'm not in any trouble. I promise."

"Then _what_?" she demands. And, honestly, Annabeth would feel defensive of Percy, but Nessa has every right. He's told her disaster stories about having to make excuses to leave in the middle of dinners, and movies, and once in the middle of something that he had only told her about when he was mildly tipsy. (She'd had to get drunker after he'd told her.)

"I can't… tell you."

"But there is something?" Her voice gets a little smaller. "Percy, are you… are you cheating on me? Is that why you always cancel plans and leave in the middle of things?"

Annabeth glances down at her pajama shorts and fuzzy socks.

This isn't going to look good.

"No!" he says, so loudly and horrified that Annabeth almost has to laugh. "No, I'm not cheating on you, I promise."

"That thing I said to you a few weeks ago… you haven't been able to say it back."

"That's… that's because of my own shit, okay? That's nothing. You're so important to me. I promise."

"If you don't love me at this point… Percy, it's been more than a year. If you don't love me—"

"Nessa," he cuts her off, voice cracking. "Please."

Hearing him in pain is enough to make Annabeth make up her mind in a split second. She grabs one of Percy's hoodies off of his floor, hugging it tight to her chest and trying to make it seem like she's been crying. As she walks into the kitchen, she swipes at her eyes with her finger, sniffing obviously.

"Annabeth?" says Nessa, surprised.

"Hi," she responds, voice weak. "I didn't know you were coming. Did Percy invite you to help cheer me up?"

"Um," Nessa says, looking over at him. "No?"

"Oh." Annabeth hugs the hoodie tighter to his chest. "Well, that seems like one of the things he'd do. He's been so great these last couple of months. You know. With the breakup, and all."

"Breakup?" say Percy and Nessa at the same time.

"Oh, you're surprised," Annabeth replies. "Thank you so much Percy," she says, placing her hand on her heart. "He knows that I'm totally emotionally stunted about relationships and I asked him not to say anything and… yeah. He's a really great best friend."

"Are you doing okay?" asks Nessa, now looking truly concerned.

"I am. I think I've finally realized that me and, um," she glances down at the DVD case, "Westley just weren't meant to be."

"Awww," Nessa says, reaching forward to hug her tightly. Annabeth sniffles twice into her ear, then mouths _you owe me!_ at Percy, who gives her an enormous thumbs up. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth."

"I'll survive," she says dramatically. "Or I will. Because Percy's been fantastic."

Nessa pulls back, looking at Percy with softness in her eyes.

"I'm sure he has."

"Anyways, I should probably leave you two alone," Annabeth tells Nessa. "I've been taking up way too much of Percy's time."

"No!" Nessa says. "It's okay! Really."

"No, I insist," Annabeth says, dragging her fuzzy-sock covered feet towards the door.

"Annabeth, wait," calls Nessa. "Seriously, come in. I'll talk to Percy tomorrow."

She kisses him briefly on the cheek and squeezes Annabeth's hand before walking to the door and closing it gently behind her. Annabeth shrugs, dropping the hoodie and brushing her hands together like she's dusting crumbs from them.

"And that, Mr. Jackson, is how you get. Shit. Done."

"I… uh… wow? You're lethal?"

"You already knew that."

"I did already know that."

She smirks, a little too smug.

"You owe me. Get ready for four hours of architecture documentaries."

* * *

His mouth is full when it says it to her. Like it's not important. Like it doesn't make any difference at all.

He says it like it won't turn her world upside down, like it won't change everything. A part of her realizes that she should have considered this a long time ago, because he's been with Nessa for almost two years now, but somehow, it had never occurred to Annabeth that Percy would make this decision.

Somehow, she had always thought he would choose her.

And yet here they are, sprawled out on the floor of her living room, eating popcorn and watching a movie that they've seen a hundred times, and Percy just comes out with it.

"I'm gonna apply to be able to tell Nessa."

Annabeth blinks back her shock.

"Oh."

"Yeah. I just sorta figured it was time, you know? It felt like time, I guess."

"You… guess."

"Well, we've been together for a while, and hiding everything from her has been really difficult. So I figure that if I wanna… you know… really give this a go and try to make it work, I have to try a little bit harder. And that involves telling her."

"It does," Annabeth agrees quietly. But she doesn't know how to ask him if he really _means_ it. Usually when someone does this… it's like proposing marriage. Filling out those forms is the equivalent of committing your life to someone. It's a _big_ deal. Does he know that? "You know how big of a deal this is?" she asks tentatively.

He looks uncomfortable for a moment, but then she watches as he swallows it back.

"Yeah. But I'm sure."

"You're sure."

"I'm sure."

Well then. So is she.

* * *

"This is about as lethal as I can make it," says Leo, directing the weapon at the safety wall he'd built in Annabeth's basement. "How well it works depends on how fast you're flying, but other than that, it's as good as it's going to get."

"But is it going to _work_ ," she asks, feeling a little bit like she wants to tear her own hair out. "Is it strong enough?"

Leo shakes his head.

"It has to be."

When she had first told him that she wanted to kill her father's murderer, Leo had barely even reacted to it. She had spent days working up to it after Percy had told her that he had decided to apply; she'd even composed a speech in her head before realizing that it was _Leo_ and it's not like he needs any sort of build up. Leo reacts the way he's going to react. That's just it.

So she'd sat down, and she'd told him, and that had been that, really. Leo had stared at her, nodded, and gone "Cool. I'll help."

"You could go to jail," Annabeth had pointed out, but he had just shrugged and told her that they'd come up with a story to get him out of it.

"It's just gonna be my tech," he'd said. "So, basically, tell them you stole it from me. Not that I developed it into a mass murder machine."

And that had been that.

They've been working on it for a few months now, whenever they have time. Between actually filling their duties as protectors of their city and working on the project, it's been exhausting and insane and Annabeth thinks that she might have lost parts of herself in the regime of what they're trying to do. But this is what she's wanted to do since she was a teenager. She wants to kill the man who killed her father.

She might never be as good as her mother, but she can defeat this villain. He is the ultimate villain and if she were to be the one to take him down, she knows that she wouldn't regret it. She'd lose everything, but she'd never regret it.

There's a knock at the door, causing Leo to startle upwards excitedly.

"The subs must be here," he says around a mouthful of screwdriver. "Can you grab them?"

And, really, he's helping her kill a super villain, so who is Annabeth to argue?

"Be right back," she says, taking the stairs two at a time and hurrying to the front door. She swings it open, expecting to see a man carrying subs, and instead finds her best friend, looking extremely surprised to actually see her standing in her own doorway. "Percy."

"Hey," he replies simply.

She hasn't seen him in weeks. His green eyes seem to pop out beautifully against the starry night, and his face is illuminated only by her light filled front hall. The moment, for some reason, feels slow. Like she is standing there, staring at Percy and letting the world slide by because this is what matters. He is what matters. None of that other ridiculous _crap._ This is it, for Annabeth. He's it.

(And if she can't have her 'it,' she doesn't want anybody at all.)

"What are you doing here?" she asks, voice a little high pitched.

"You weren't answering your phone."

"It's on do not disturb."

"You haven't answered it in weeks." She doesn't say anything. He pauses. "I missed you?"

But somehow, it doesn't feel good to hear him say it.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth replies, instead of reciprocating the sentiment. "I'll try to pick up more."

He shifts awkwardly between his feet, scuffing his shoe across the ground, seeming to try to fill the awkward, tense silence that is inflating between the two of them.

"Are you going to invite me in?" he asks eventually.

Annabeth bites her lip. God, she should. She wishes she could. But she's got Leo downstairs in her basement, testing out lethal weapons, which is what they've been doing for months, and that's why she hasn't been around Percy and she's starting to realize that, despite all the time she has been spending with Leo, she really does feel very lonely.

Then again. She might as well start to get used to it.

"I can't, actually," she says. "I, um, have someone here."

"Oh." There's more silence. It's awkward, and she can't remember the last time she was this awkward with her best friend. "I should probably get going anyways. I have… stuff to do."

"Like filling out the papers?"

Annabeth doesn't know why her voice is so empty. It just is.

"Yeah. Like filling out the papers."

"Bye, then."

"Bye."

She closes the door on Percy, on his smile and their childhood and the joy that comes with family, and that's the exact moment when she officially makes up her mind.

Percy had stopped taking care of himself too long ago. As he stands in front of the mirror, staring anxiously at his reflection, he finds his hands running almost absently against the scruff at his cheek. He looks different. He feels different. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the 5 o'clock shadow— because he knows why.

It has been thirteen days since he last heard from Annabeth. He doesn't think he recognizes himself without her in his life. He's been sitting in the large, overstuffed armchair in front of his fireplace, staring at the fireplace and seeing within the flickering flames Annabeth's face as she pressed a Christmas gift into his hands when they were fifteen. He has never known her to be anything smaller than brazen, but in that moment, she had seemed almost _shy_. And he remembers thinking about that face over and over again and wondering what it had meant.

But now? Now he thinks he knows.

Because there's a part of him that has always been shy around her, too. And Percy Jackson isn't shy. He's not. He smiles big and crooked and jokes around with everybody and lets himself feel everything he wants to feel, except for when it comes to loss. (And that one moment of loss, with Annabeth's lips pressing up against his in the dark? That's the moment where he thinks he might have found himself without either of them even realizing it.)

Annabeth is his best friend, and no part of him has ever been reticent about her. Except that one thing. Except falling in love with her over and over again, every day of high school, every day of adulthood, every day trying not to feel the way she's made him feel the entire time he's known her.

And now he's staring at himself in the mirror and nothing has changed, except he hasn't seen Annabeth in thirteen days. Thirteen long, terrible days.

Which is why he's basically expecting the knock that comes at his door when it finally arrives. He takes one last look at himself in the mirror before he walks slowly to his front door, dragging his feet there. Knowing she's on the other side doesn't make him move faster. He doesn't know what to do. Not anymore.

"Hi."

She's standing outside in the moonlight, her eyes sunken into her head a little more than they had been the last time he'd seen her, when she'd looked a complete mess. This time, her hair is brushed, and she's got a bit of mascara on, which is weird, given the fact that she's standing in front of him in jeans and a white Olympia High School t-shirt. But she's wringing her hands together, and he thinks she might be just as nervous as he is. Maybe because sometimes it feels like they don't know each other anymore.

"Annabeth," he says in response, his voice hoarse. "Yeah. Hi."

"Can I come in?"

"'Course," he says roughly, pulling the door wider to allow her passage. "Where have you been?"

She walks deeper into his front hall, going over to the table that she had helped him move into it years ago. Annabeth's hands dance over the pictures there before she picks up one of the two of them on graduation day, their hands clasped together as they smiled brightly, their whole future ahead of them. He watches her like a hawk, unable to look away from her vibrancy even when it's muted.

It's not surprising to him when she says it. Her back is turned. Her posture seems stiff.

"I killed him."

Percy swallows back the bile that's at the back of his throat.

"You… you killed him."

"I killed Kronos." Annabeth turns towards him, her gray eyes blazing with defiance. He wants to walk up to her, to grab her hands and tell her that this isn't the end of the world, but it is. Everything they know is going to change.

"Annabeth," he says thickly, voice shocked.

"I'm not sorry," she says boldly. "Someone had to do it, I did it. What's done is done."

"The Council—"

"Is going to put me in lockup," Annabeth finishes for him. "I'm just here to say goodbye to you."

He feels everything in him falling apart.

"You can't," he says to the floor. "You can't say goodbye."

"I have to."

"You can't."

"Percy, what's going on?"

She's across the hall towards him in only a few moments, her eyes alarmed as they trace over his face. He wants to laugh, because it's he who should be worried about her. She's going to _jail_.

"I… broke up with Nessa."

It's not what she was expecting, he can tell. She blinks rapidly a few times.

"May I ask why?"

"It wasn't fair to her. You know, 'cause I'm in love with you, and that just… wasn't fair."

Annabeth closes her eyes, wincing.

"Did you just say that you love me?"

It registers with him quickly. He feels a little ashamed of himself, a little horrified, and a little bit like he's already fallen to pieces.

"I did."

Her lids open, revealing watery eyes amidst an astounded expression as she reaches for his hands.

"I wish you'd told me."

He laughs bitterly.

"What difference would that have made?" he asks, avoiding her tearful gaze.

"I would've had a reason not to kill him. I would've… stayed. With you."

"I was right here, the whole time."

"You were _applying_."

"Because I thought it was the right thing to do. Because I thought you didn't… wait."

Annabeth looks startled.

"What?"

"Does that mean you love me too?"

She doesn't answer. Instead, in a predictably endearing move, she rolls her eyes and leans forward and kisses him. Her lips press insistently against his, and it feels _certain_ for the first time in his life. As his hands dive into her hair, holding her in place so that he can keep kissing her, Percy thinks that this is everything he was always supposed to feel and never did. They had done this once before, and it had been right, and it is _still_ right. It will always be right.

Annabeth is his best friend.

"I love you so much," she admits breathily, pulling back. "Percy. _God_."

"I'm so sorry," he says, pressing his forehead against hers. Annabeth strokes the back of his neck, her eyes closed. "I didn't want to fuck things up by telling you, but I think I did by not telling you."

"So we have one night," whispers Annabeth, looking almost nauseous at the thought. "We have one night."

"I just wanna be with you," he mumbles, pressing his lips against hers again. Annabeth steps back from his embrace, hand sliding down his chest and to his hand.

"So come on," she says simply, pulling him towards the back of his apartment. Towards his bedroom.

If any piece of him loved her any less than he does, Percy thinks that maybe he would have had the ability to articulate how he felt as he touched her like this for the first time. She sits on his bed and waits for him, and all he can bring himself to do is kneel in front of her, his hands on her thighs, and stretch up so that he can kiss her. She strokes his hair, the action familiar, despite the fact that nothing else about this is.

Percy only stands up when Annabeth peels her shirt over her head, and then he follows her onto the bed, feeling like he is too much limb and not enough heart. He hovers over her, still intent on kissing her until the world ends, but Annabeth moans and tugs his hoodie off of his body and then it's just the two of them, pressed against each other quiet and intimate and vulnerable and _safe_.

She fills all of the space in his head as she slowly sinks onto him, her thighs quivering as she moves over him, giving and giving and giving. He focuses on the high, stuttering way she breathes, so much softer than he's ever heard, and he focuses on the way her hands they trail a fire up his skin as she slides them from his chest to the pillow, her breath right in his ear, a long, never ending sigh.

He can't save her from what's going to happen tomorrow. But if this one night is the only salvation they ever get from their demons, he will take it. He will make sure that he knocks every one of her fears out of her soul and take them into his own, as his burden to bear, just so she can be light. Because she _is_ light to him.

God. She always has been.

* * *

 

They wait for the verdict in a small, windowless room together. It feels odd to hold hands after all this time, but at the same time, it doesn't. He thinks about all of the moment that they've had together in their millions of past lives— high school freshman, scared of each other, high school students, quietly in love and not sure what to do or say. He thinks about the two of them being adults and too scared of breaking the one pristine thing in their life to make any move towards making it better. He thinks about all the times he's almost lost her and she's almost lost him, and he thinks about last night. Staying up, talking, watching the sun come up on the pale strands of her curly hair as her sleepy face was pressed against his favorite pillow.

He thinks about every version of himself that has been in love with her, and the way he will be in love with her for the rest of his life, because that is who he is. He thinks about the future that they had outlined together at five o'clock this morning, Annabeth's knees pulled up to her chest as she sketched out a picture of a house with her right hand, and Percy made her draw a dog in front of it, and he had thought his hand might never stop shaking but it did when she covered it with hers.

"It's going to be okay," Annabeth whispers to him now, her nose pressing against his cheek a little tenderly, and Percy smiles at her, but it's fake. It's almost as hard as the bench on which they are seated, waiting for Annabeth's fate.

"Did they really just stare at you?"

"Mhm."

"Did you really refuse to apologize?"

"I did."

He shakes his head at her, a little admiringly, a little heartbroken.

"I can't believe you sometimes, Annabeth."

"Both of us know that I wasn't going to get off for this no matter how I behaved," she says. "I might as well be myself." She pauses. "I don't regret it, Percy. You know that, right?"

"Do you regret what has to happen now?"

She touches his cheek.

"Of course I do," she says softly. Her lips move closer to his, about to press gently against his mouth, and that's when the door bursts open, revealing Annabeth's mother standing there, adorned in her enormous council robes and looking like she very much wishes that she weren't in this dark, dingy cave of a room.

"Annabeth," she says stiffly. Annabeth raises her chin, trying to make herself taller in the face of her mother.

"Mother," she says softly.

"And Mr. Jackson," says Athena, nodding towards him as well. "It's good of you to wait with her."

"Well, uh, you kno—"

She cuts him off abruptly, her attention already refocused on her daughter.

"They found you guilty. But you already know that."

Annabeth nods.

"I did."

"In a few moments, they are going to come get you. They are going to take you to prison. You will be locked in a jail cell and spend the rest of your life with no access to your powers or to the outside world. Do you understand that?"

She swallows. His heart smashes even more.

"I do."

The stately woman nods stiffly, surveying her daughter.

"Then you'll also understand, I'm sure, that I cared very deeply for your father."

This part is unexpected. Annabeth's brow furrowed.

"I… guess so?"

"I cared deeply for him, and although I haven't been able to be around to show it, I care for you as well."

"Oh." All these years of desperately hoping for praise and Percy can't help but want to strangle her for giving it to Annabeth like this. This is all wrong. This is the wrong moment. His world is collapsing so heavily, so handily, that he feels completely detached from it. Nothing feels real. None of this.

They're in the wrong universe.

"Which is why I also wish to extend my gratitude towards you. I understand the fact that you were attempting to rid our world of one of its most terrifying villains. For that, the people of this country are indebted to you, myself included. And we always will be."

He watches as Athena extends her hand out towards Annabeth and shakes it with tremendous gravity on her face. Then she fixes Annabeth with a steely stare.

"You know what to do, I expect," she says before turning around and leaving the room.

Only once the door is closed does Annabeth deflate slightly. Her shoulders sag, and her fingers tremble as she turns towards her hands. They're shaking, Percy realizes, and she's fumbling with something.

"What's going on?" he asks. "Did you… have that before?"

Annabeth's eyes skate desperately over the paper, her lips moving as she reads the words. When she looks up, her eyes are shining.

"She handed it to me," Annabeth says. "It's an escape plan."

His heart starts hammering in her chest.

"What?"

"She's helping me _escape_."

He breathes out slowly.

"You're doing it. You're doing it, right?"

"I'd have to leave, I'd have to get out of here right away, but… yes. I can do it. It's all here, everything, I can do this."

He wraps his arms tightly around her, pulling her close to his chest.

"Thank god," he murmurs in her ear, feeling the pieces of him that had been parted from his body rocketing back towards him. "What do we do?"

Annabeth stares at him oddly for a beat. Then:

"We?"

"We," he replies. "What do we do?"

She closes her eyes. Takes a moment.

"You're coming with me?"

And Percy smiles, raising a hand to touch her cheek.

"Did you expect any different from me?"

"I… I didn't want to ask."

"Annabeth."

"You'd have to leave your apartment, your friends—"

"Annabeth."

"You couldn't be a hero anymore. Everything that we worked towards all of our lives, you couldn't have that."

" _Annabeth_."

"You couldn't see your mom ever again."

He hesitates for a moment.

"I'll find a way," he says determinedly. "I'm not leaving you. I'm staying with you."

She places her hand on his chest, over his heart.

"I love you," she whispers. Footsteps begin to approach the door, and Annabeth's eyes skim the paper once more. "And that's step one." Her lips find his, rough and insistent, pressing adrenaline against him. When she pulls back, Percy feels like he could do anything. "Ready?"

He nods, eyes on her, on his future.

"Ready."


End file.
